IBMannounced this morning the winners of the latest batch of grants for its Smarter Cities Challenge, doling out millions as part of the three-year, $50 million program.

Here's how it works: cities are asked to compete for IBM's human and technological resources by proposing projects most deserving of the cash. Big Blue then chooses which urban areas are most worthy, dispatching its experts to work their magic.

The winning cities "proposed intriguing projects and areas of focus for IBM experts," the company says, such as jobs, transportation, health, education, sustainability and urban planning.

In other words, everything that can ail the modern city.

The 2012 winners are:

Accra, Ghana

Ahmedabad, India

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Birmingham, UK

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Cheongju, Korea

Chonburi, Thailand

Curitiba, Brazil

Da Nang, Vietnam

Dortmund, Germany

Durham, North Carolina, USA

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Geraldton, Australia

Houston, Texas, USA

Ishinomaki, Japan

Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Jurong Lake District, Singapore

Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Malaga, Spain

Medellin, Colombia

New Taipei City, Taiwan

Nanjing, China

Nairobi, Kenya

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Pune, India

Rabat, Morocco

Rosario, Argentina

Siracusa, Italy

Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Tshwane, South Africa

Toluca, Mexico

For those keeping track at home, that's eight for the United States.

A common theme among the projects was "the willingness to exchange ideas and data freely between and among citizens, elected officials, non-profits, businesses, and city agencies," as well as a healthy dose of demonstrable leadership, IBM said.

In short: collaboration and systems-thinking, from using analytics in schools to integrating modes of transport.

Last year, 24 cities were the recipients of IBM's grants; seven cities received them in 2010. Some of the winners have already implemented systems based on IBM's advice, though their true impact won't be successfully measured until several years have passed.

Nonetheless, free money is free money. Few cash-strapped cities are willing to ignore financial assistance on the way to solving their most pressing problems.